At least John Tavares' contract is good news for the Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs still have so much to figure out this offseason.

They need a head coach. They need an Auston Matthews plan. They need to get the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft right. 

But there's at least one bit of good news when you start digging into the numbers: John Tavares actually has quite the friendly contract.

Tavares is 35 years old, sure, but he's only making $4,389,280 per season. He's got three years left on his current deal at that cost.

It's not nothing, but it's also a bargain price for a center who still notches nearly a point per game.

The Maple Leafs have Matthews, presumably, to continue centering the top line. If Tavares is remaining their second center and it's just at that cost, that's a good deal for Toronto.

MORE: Sabres' story of this season is about all the chapters along the way

Tavares is coming off a season in which he had 31 goals and 40 assists while playing in all 82 games for the Maple Leafs. While things were mostly crumbling around him, he was performing pretty close to his usual standard -- and it'd be fair to imagine he would've put up even better numbers if he had a better team around him.

The Maple Leafs got Tavares to sign that deal before this season in what felt like a big win for a team hoping to maintain its contention status in the Eastern Conference. Instead, almost everything fell apart, but Tavares remained sturdy.

That's as good a sign as anything as the Leafs try to turn things around. They know they can still count on Tavares, and not at a bad cost, either.

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